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ARDA fees seem to be not voluntary on all of my statements. Let's do a letter-writing campaign via email to Vistana about it. Join me, please!

tschwa2

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Yes, exactly! That is the issue I am experiencing. When I argue that the $5.00 is the ARDA fee, they tell me that it's not the ARDA fee.
wouldn't you be able to say I prepaid $x dollars on A date and the 2023 MF's is $z so the difference would be $y with out arguing about what is ARDA fees and not. We get the grid with the MF's by unit type.
 

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Id think that for me personally, having to make a phone call, sit on hold, then discuss an item with a customer service representative is not something that should be necessary for a $5 charge that shouldnt be applied by default in the first place.

not even once! much less repeatedly.
 

CalGalTraveler

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I was caught with this last year, forgot and paid and then had to call to request a refund. What a pain! This must cost them to process refunds when peeps like me call.

Happy to support. Please provide some suggesting wording and where to send an email.
 

TUGBrian

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did get one response saying they would look into it. also implied that individual resort associations themselves are actually responsible for maintenance fee collections practices vs it being on a "developer" level.

perhaps that is true and they all just copied the practice from the start etc. we shall see where this goes.
 

rickandcindy23

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For those of you who do not get the problem:

I recently reviewed my online statements:

Due Date 01/03/2023

Prior Balance Due
View Prior Year Balance Detail $ -1,083.50

Current Year Charges

Maintenance Fee(s) $ 1,161.24

Tax - If Applicable $ 0.00

Membership Fee - If Applicable $ 0.00

Other* $ 0.00

Interest $ 0.00

Late Fees $ 0.00

ARDA ROC PAC Contrib.** $ 5.00

Sub-Total
Current Year Charges $ 1,166.24
Less Payments*** $ 0.00

Total Due $ 82.74

Projected Fees for Next Year $ 1,161.24

If I pay my fees for 2024 as "projected fees for next year," they credit me only $1,156.24. This is because they keep the dang $5.00 back from the total amount due. So then I want to make my 2024 reservations for my deeded weeks, and they say, "The system won't let me book that week because you owe $5.00." Then I pay the dang $5.00.
 

rickandcindy23

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what can you do??? But pay that $5.00 fee.:wall::crash::crash::shrug:
Yep. And that makes it mandatory because the system doesn't erase that amount due for a long time after the first of the year.

It should truly be voluntary and should not show as part of the total amount due. I only pay it on about 8 weeks each year because I own that many weeks that are deeded 24-32. But it's $40 that Vistana is stealing from me on behalf of ARDA.

I may write a letter to the Florida AG.
 

rog2867

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the bill says voluntary so I always pay 5 less per week, never had an issue.
 

heitmullerj02

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I have owned Vistana since 1998, I used to deduct the fee when I sent a check, never had a problem booking. Now of course using bill pay, and I can never figure whether it’s in there or not. I do usually call, when I can get through, and confirm the final amount due. I will specifically ask about that fee this year.
 

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Prepayment is definitely the issue here and is simply a policy set by Vistana to protect themselves from possible fraud by people that deposit and later default. They require the same prepayment if borrowing StarOptions. I would be more than happy if this prepayment went away when Abound rolls out. I doubt prepayment will be required when electing future use years to Abound, but not sure if they will still require it for II deposit and StarOption borrowing.
I got caught in the prepayment-ARDA trap this year because I needed to use 2023 options from both of my contracts in II so they made me prepay them both this summer including the normal VSN membership fees for $215. But they didn't bill us the 2023 membership fees yet so the system created a credit balance on each of my two contracts once 2023 MF's were added and is automatically reducing those credit balances by $5 each for ARDA. I called on Aug 18th and asked to have the ARDA fees removed and they said it would take 15 to 45 days (!). It's now been nearly 60 days so I called yesterday and they told me that things are taking twice as much time as usual so it will take between 60 and 90 days to remove those fees and for me to check back on November 16th! I mean it is what it is, I accept that...sort of. Perhaps the one person whose job it was to remove this fee has left the company or because they didn't bill the membership fees they've been swamped with requests from prepayers to remove ARDA. If I want a refund of my credit balances after the $5 is added back in to each, she said that would be an additional 60 to 90 days.
 
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rickandcindy23

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I got caught in the prepayment-ARDA trap this year because I needed to use 2023 options from both of my contracts in II so they made me prepay them both this summer including the normal VSN membership fees for $215. But they didn't bill us the 2023 membership fees yet so the system created a credit balance on each of my two contracts once 2023 MF's were added and is automatically reducing those credit balances by $5 each for ARDA. I called on Aug 18th and asked to have the ARDA fees removed and they said it would take 15 to 45 days (!). It's now been nearly 60 days so I called yesterday and they told me that things are taking twice as much time as usual so it will take between 60 and 90 days to remove those fees and for me to check back on November 16th! I mean it is what it is, I accept that...sort of. Perhaps the one person whose job it was to remove this fee has left the company or because they didn't bill the membership fees they've been swamped with requests from prepayers to remove ARDA. If I want a refund of my credit balances after the $5 is added back in to each, she said that would be an additional 60 to 90 days.
I am glad I am not the only one dealing with this issue. Why add this to the total amount due so we have to subtract it? It's really despicable.

I believe Marriott will fix it. This has been going on long enough. Years and years of me complaining has done nothing. I just get emails saying I need to read ownership 101 to find out how my ownership works. The blanket emails make me nuts.

And that kind of time for removing ARDA from the total balance due, like it's a bill, it's just ludicrous.
 

rickandcindy23

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the bill says voluntary so I always pay 5 less per week, never had an issue.
Well, that's good for you. But why should you have to subtract it? That's the real question here. What about those who just assume it's something they HAVE TO PAY? You know it's not mandatory, so you subtract it.

I had Foxrun Townhouses charge me the ARDA fee one time, and I had them credit my account for the next year. That's the last time I just call them and tell them I want to pay what I owe. I now tell them that I will not pay the ARDA fee.
 
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I'm guessing the Vistana support staff read TUG and are fed up with being called inept, incompetent and imbeciles so have taken to being purposefully obstructive to anyone called Rick or Cindy. It's all the other Ricks and Cindys in the world I feel sorry for ;)
 
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rickandcindy23

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I'm guessing the Vistana support staff read TUG and are fed up with being called inept, incompetent and imbeciles so have taken to being purposefully obstructive to anyone called Rick or Cindy. It's all the other Ricks and Cindys in the world I feel sorry for ;)
The facts are:

1) There is too much turnover at Vistana and new people are definitely not able to answer questions as they should and give wrong information. I have had to explain how things work with my particular resort, which is Sheraton Broadway Plantation.
2) The ARDA fees should not have to be subtracted; they should be added, if you "voluntarily" want to add them. That is why they are called voluntary.
3) Your post was intentionally nasty. I get sick of being attacked by certain people who think they are so nice and never complain about anything. I noticed you aren't attacking anyone else when they are complaining about website issues.

This thread can be closed. I will just continue to pay the VOLUNTARY ARDA FEE that I don't want to pay X 8. I guess ARDA should love me.
 

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Prepayment is definitely the issue here and is simply a policy set by Vistana to protect themselves from possible fraud by people that deposit and later default. They require the same prepayment if borrowing StarOptions. I would be more than happy if this prepayment went away when Abound rolls out. I doubt prepayment will be required when electing future use years to Abound, but not sure if they will still require it for II deposit and StarOption borrowing.
They did not mention the prepayment would go away for II deposits and StarOption borrowing so I doubt they will. Generally, they went in the direction of reducing the attractiveness of VSN to make Abound look better.
 
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The facts are:

1) There is too much turnover at Vistana and new people are definitely not able to answer questions as they should and give wrong information. I have had to explain how things work with my particular resort, which is Sheraton Broadway Plantation.
2) The ARDA fees should not have to be subtracted; they should be added, if you "voluntarily" want to add them. That is why they are called voluntary.
3) Your post was intentionally nasty. I get sick of being attacked by certain people who think they are so nice and never complain about anything. I noticed you aren't attacking anyone else when they are complaining about website issues.

This thread can be closed. I will just continue to pay the VOLUNTARY ARDA FEE that I don't want to pay X 8. I guess ARDA should love me.
You've just confirmed the global misgivings about Americans and a sense of humour (or is it humor?). Did you not see the ;)
 

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The facts are:

1) There is too much turnover at Vistana and new people are definitely not able to answer questions as they should and give wrong information. I have had to explain how things work with my particular resort, which is Sheraton Broadway Plantation.
2) The ARDA fees should not have to be subtracted; they should be added, if you "voluntarily" want to add them. That is why they are called voluntary.
3) Your post was intentionally nasty. I get sick of being attacked by certain people who think they are so nice and never complain about anything. I noticed you aren't attacking anyone else when they are complaining about website issues.

This thread can be closed. I will just continue to pay the VOLUNTARY ARDA FEE that I don't want to pay X 8. I guess ARDA should love me.
The 5 dollar fee should not be there, period. It does not even matter they say it is "voluntary". If this is the association of the industry, they should pay for it. If you go to the dentist's office, you would not be billed for the American Dental Association.
 

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There are multiple threads about the ARDA-ROC amounts on MF's bills, like this one from 2015: [2015] ARDA-ROC Voluntary Contribution on Annual Bill In this one and others, you can learn that long before Marriott Vacations Worldwide acquired Vistana, the "suggested contribution" was an opt-in with Marriott ownerships and an opt-out with Vistana (formerly Starwood) ownerships.

I'm seriously waiting on the day that Vistana owners blame Marriott for every ill in the known universe. :rolleyes:
If Marriott wanted to change this, they would have done it a very long time ago, they have been in charge for 4.5 years and the buck stops with them. But why would they potentially hurt the budget of their buddies from ARDA?

I am also waiting for that very special moment when some particular Marriott owners would criticize anything related to Marriott.
 

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If Marriott wanted to change this, they would have done it a very long time ago, they have been in charge for 4.5 years and the buck stops with them. But why would they potentially hurt the budget of their buddies from ARDA? ...

Perhaps some Vistana owners - you in particular - could put some effort into learning the actual reasons why this issue has ALWAYS affected Vistana ownerships and hasn't EVER affected Marriott ownerships? Like, is there something unique in the Vistana-formerly-Starwood/ARDA-ROC relationship to which Marriott is still beholden after the takeover? Because if Marriott's only concern were milking owners for ARDA's benefit, it's certainly a puzzle why they wouldn't have ever done it with their larger MVC ownership base.

But no, instead you choose to just be lazy and continue to endlessly complain about everything that's wrong in the known universe being Marriott's fault.

I am also waiting for that very special moment when some particular Marriott owners would criticize anything related to Marriott.
As one of the "some particular Marriott owners" you're referencing (else why would you direct this comment in response to my quoted post,) I can tell you you're going to be waiting a long time for me to take your bait. It might happen someday, sure, but not until the day that you demonstrate a basic understanding of the protections and limitations contained in timeshare governing documents as they pertain to owners as well as the timeshare companies. Until then, you're simply a diversion.
 

rickandcindy23

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Let me go on record as saying that Marriott doesn't do this. It's always been Vistana. I am sure at some point that Marriott will fix it.
 

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Let me go on record as saying that Marriott doesn't do this. It's always been Vistana. I am sure at some point that Marriott will fix it.
I understand but "Vistana" is no longer in charge. Don't expect this to be high on Marriott's priority list.

Perhaps some Vistana owners - you in particular - could put some effort into learning the actual reasons why this issue has ALWAYS affected Vistana ownerships and hasn't EVER affected Marriott ownerships? Like, is there something unique in the Vistana-formerly-Starwood/ARDA-ROC relationship to which Marriott is still beholden after the takeover? Because if Marriott's only concern were milking owners for ARDA's benefit, it's certainly a puzzle why they wouldn't have ever done it with their larger MVC ownership base.

But no, instead you choose to just be lazy and continue to endlessly complain about everything that's wrong in the known universe being Marriott's fault.


As one of the "some particular Marriott owners" you're referencing (else why would you direct this comment in response to my quoted post,) I can tell you you're going to be waiting a long time for me to take your bait. It might happen someday, sure, but not until the day that you demonstrate a basic understanding of the protections and limitations contained in timeshare governing documents as they pertain to owners as well as the timeshare companies. Until then, you're simply a diversion.

I was just saying that Marriott could have changed it if they wanted to, it has nothing to do with Abound and they could have fixed it 4 years ago if they had the motivation. Despite my "laziness" even I could understand that this issue pre-dated the merger.

Concerning the second part, now it becomes clear that moment will never come, otherwise you would have to admit I have "improved" my understanding about the governing docs ;).
 

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I understand but "Vistana" is no longer in charge. Don't expect this to be high on Marriott's priority list.

I was just saying that Marriott could have changed it if they wanted to, it has nothing to do with Abound and they could have fixed it 4 years ago if they had the motivation. Despite my "laziness" even I could understand that this issue pre-dated the merger.

What makes you so sure that there wasn't an existing agreement between Starwood/Vistana and ARDA-ROC that survives Marriott's acquisition? I don't know if there is but it seems counter to your usual fluff to just throw out there that Marriott has unilateral power to change anything it pleases.

Concerning the second part, now it becomes clear that moment will never come, otherwise you would have to admit I have "improved" my understanding about the governing docs ;).
That's not what I said, and it's not what I think. And you completely read me wrong if you think that I would never criticize Marriott. The difference between us is, I recognize when doing so might bring results.

In this case Cindy is dealing with a unique situation that affects very few owners, involving payment of MF's in advance in order to book specific Weeks in a Reservation Window that opens long before the usual. If I were Cindy I'd write snail-mail to the MVW corporate office laying out her ownership and how/why it's affected by this issue, without any criticism or snark, asking specifically if Marriott has considered changing the ARDA-ROC component of the Vistana Weeks MF's invoices so that they align with those of Marriott Weeks which don't have this issue, or, are they considering any other remedy? I'd probably wait until MF-paying season is over, only because they seem to lump all MF's questions this time of year into the same bucket of owners who only ever get disgruntled when it's MF-paying time.

@rickandcindy23 : Executive Leadership and Contact Us
I'd address the snail-mail to the Orlando corp office, to the attention of Brian Miller, President, Vacation Ownership AND the CEO John Geller, Jr., who's already been announced to succeed Weisz after he retires effective 12/31/22.
 
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timsi

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What makes you so sure that there wasn't an existing agreement between Starwood/Vistana and ARDA-ROC that survives Marriott's acquisition? I don't know if there is but it seems counter to your usual fluff to just throw out there that Marriott has unilateral power to change anything it pleases.

How Vistana collects the fee is an internal matter, so it is very unlikely they are bound the provisions of such contract. Unless you have a source from the inside, and unless you trust that source, you seem to be speculating.
 

dioxide45

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I think the only way we will see a change in how Vistana collects this fee is if Marriott goes to a single platform for collecting MF payments for both MVC and Vistana ownership. It is quite possible that will happen at some point down the road.
 

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How Vistana collects the fee is an internal matter, so it is very unlikely they are bound the provisions of such contract. Unless you have a source from the inside, and unless you trust that source, you seem to be speculating.
I literally said, "I don't know" so you claiming that I'm speculating isn't exactly the bombshell you think it might be. I have no sources, nobody whose trustworthiness needs to be called into question. What is obvious is that most all of the big timeshare players have agreed with ARDA-ROC to make it easy for these annual "voluntary" ARDA-ROC dues to be collected, and it wouldn't come as a surprise if they protected themselves with some type of agreement, because we all know they protect their own interests in ways and with documents that most of us aren't even aware they exist.

Again, this thread is about Cindy's particularly unique MF's situation that existed long before Marriott acquired Vistana, so of course that makes it the perfect TUG thread to manufacture another criticism of Marriott out of thin air. Right?
 
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